Final deployment of Big "E" marks end of era

In the coming days, the flight deck and hangar bay of the aircraft carrier Enterprise will grow crowded with the hardware of military might: helicopters, reconnaissance planes, fighter jets and bombs.

Thursday, three days before the ship heads out on deployment to the Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf, its 3.5-acre hangar bay - a cavernous space one level below the flight deck - resembled a commercial warehouse. At one end, giant pallets of burlap bags competed for space with shrink-wrapped boxes of fresh eggs, cases of oranges and watermelons, and stacks of file cabinets.

Sailors crossed the bow carrying bulging sea bags, crisply pressed dress uniforms, even bicycles and golf clubs.

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